Be it in thought, or on the wind.

A/N: So I wrote this for father's day, always in the back of my mind all the great father figures in this series and nearly changed everything in here like five times. But I stuck with my original plan! I wanted Fujitaka raising Syaoran story! Yes! And in flashbacks because I missed Fai and Kurogane writing this without them. Which means I'm letting Syaoran indulge in his problematic habit of getting way carried away with flashbacks.

The sun was beginning to lower in the sky, casting warm light and strange shadows across their campsite. It had been a long day, following seemingly endless dead end leads up mountains, the afternoon impossibly hot. Honestly, it reminded Syaoran a lot of growing up, excavating and exploring in any and all climates. There was a lot of vegetation here though, so it didn't look much like Clow, the place where he had spent most of his time. The trees seemed to go on for miles, as far as they had been able to see from the top of the mountain. The plant life made the air muggy, and there hadn't been much wind that day, so it was stagnant.

As much as Syaoran wanted to find Sakura's feather, he wanted her and everyone else to be rested and healthy. And the feather hadn't even been up there. They'd hiked up to that old monastery for nothing, just some old cobwebs and dust. There had been some really interesting looking books, although they were written in a language Syaoran couldn't read. There hadn't been any drawings in them either or on the old tapestries to indicate there was a feather, so they moved on. It was somewhere in the area, though. Mokona had sensed it.

We'll find it tomorrow, Syaoran thought confidently. This was a peaceful place, and it didn't seem like anyone was using the feather for evil or mischief. The only urgency was getting them back to Sakura to restore her memories and bring back her strength, but it would do no good to restore such strength if she didn't rest and maintain her health naturally.

"Fai's making soup!" The little magical creature squaked in his face suddenly, jarring him from his thoughts. She stomped her feet happily on the top of his head. "Soup soup soup!"

They were camping again, blankets rolled out around a firepit they'd dug and lined with rocks (for safety precaution). Fai was crouched next to it with a pot he'd gotten at the market, as well as various vegetables and meats he intended on cooking in it. He stirred the contents, chatting merrily to Sakura, who was trying to peel a potato with a knife.

"Like this?" Sakura asked when Fai finished his story. (Something about large, mythical beasts in the snowy tundra.) She angled the knife, slicing off the thin strip of skin.

"You're a natural, Sakura-chan! And when you're done with peeling them, we'll chop them up really small."

Sakura nodded. "Right!"

Syaoran came over and sat beside them. "Do you need help with anything else, Fai-san?"

Fai smiled brightly. "You can help Sakura-chan with the vegetables. Such hard workers, these children. So much like their daddy, huh?"

Mokona bounced up into the air and landed on Kurogane's head. "Kuro-daddy is such a good father!"

"What'd you call me?!" Kurogane fumed, dropping the bundle of wood he'd had in his arms to grab at the magical creature.

With another smile, Fai held out a knife towards Syaoran. "Why don't you cut up the potatoes after Sakura-chan peels them, okay?"

"Alright," Syaoran replied, turning an amused smile at Sakura, which she returned happily. It was strange and silly the way Fai talked like they were a family, and it really didn't feel untrue. They looked out for each other and protected each other. Syaoran didn't want to think of how this journey would've gone if Kurogane and Fai both weren't there. He, and probably Sakura as well, would've been dead long ago.

Syaoran shuddered away from the thought and continued to work on a potato.

"This is a nice country, isn't it?" Syaoran said.

Sakura nodded. "Everyone we've met has been so kind. I hope we can stay for a while."

"Much kinder than the last country we were in, yeah?" Fai mused as he plopped Syaoran's chopped up potatoes into the broth.

"Yeah…" Syaoran said. The last place hadn't been incredibly pleasant. And they hadn't even gotten a feather out of it.

"Just because it seems nice, don't let your guard." Kurogane moved the stack of wood to the other side of the fire.

"But we can't have our guard up all the time, Kuro-pi! Such a brute, never letting anyone relax!" Fai whined, his shoulders seemingly going limp in a dramatic shrug.

Kurogane tched. "You're always relaxed."

"Let's relax, Kuro-daddy!" Mokona chirped, marching on his hair.

"Don't just stomp on people's heads!" Kurogane yelled, grabbing Mokona and squashing her between his hands.

"Ah! Kurogane is such a monster!" Mokona cried. "Mokona was wrong, Kurogane is a terrible father!"

"Who're you calling father?!"

Sakura laughed beside him, pulling Syaoran's attention away from Kurogane. He smiled at her laughing face, then looked back at the potatoes on his board. This is good, he thought. Everything will be alright if I have them with me.

He smiled at his thoughts, reminded of the first time he'd thought something like that. Looking up at the kind face who'd rescued him from the rain.

Since he hadn't known any language whatsoever, immediately after becoming Syaoran's foster father, Fujitaka worked hard to teach him everything he knew. Which really was a lot of knowledge. Not that Syaoran minded in the least; even back when he was a small child he had a thirst for knowledge. Fujitaka had indeed been a good fit for him.

His toes barely brushed the ground underneath the chair he sat in, the large book covering his entire lap with it's heavy pages.

"Fujitaka-san, uh… how do you say this?" Syaoran asked timidly of the man who was sitting at the desk in the cramped apartment space.

Fujitaka smiled and knelt down beside the chair. "Which one?"

Mutely, Syaoran pointed to the character on the page which eluded him.

"Oh," Fujitaka said. "This one reads 'astronomical.' Do you understand what the author is talking about in this passage?"

Syaoran bit his lip. It hadn't been long since he'd learned how to read and write in this language Fujitaka had taught him to speak in. He still had some trouble with the more complicated and less used words. Dejected, he shook his head. "Not very much. I'm sorry."

With another smile, Fujitaka gently tipped Syaoran's face up to look him in the eye. "It's completely alright, Syaoran-kun. You'll get there, I'm positive. Some words and phrases are trickier than others."

Fujitaka gestured down to the passage Syaoran had been attempting to read. "This passage is explaining how this civilization used the study of the skies and stars to create maps. So they always knew where they were if someone were to get lost, for example. It's really quite fascinating."

Syaoran nodded, looking at the words again, then the small pictures between the passages. "So they were studying science thousands of years ago?"

"Yes, although not all that much of it was understood as it is today. They were just starting out in their discoveries." His face softened as he looked at the boy. He brought his hand up, placing it on top of Syaoran's head. "There will always be new discoveries, no matter what field you study. All it takes is constant effort, and a little bit of help here and there. If we do that, then we can always learn the new things this amazing world has to offer us."

Although his words were indirect, Syaoran understood the meaning. He looked down at the book again with determination. "I'll do my best to learn the hard words. I promise."

Fujitaka laughed softly, ruffling the child's hair. "See that you do. And remember that I'll always be here to help you, all you need to do is ask, alright?"

The boy nodded once more. "I will."

Everything will be alright, Syaoran thought to himself, smiling away the memory of cold loneliness in the rain.

"Syaoran-kun?"

Syaoran blinked, being brought back to the present. Sakura was holding a potato out to him.

"Oh sorry," he replied with a smile, taking it from her hand.

"You seemed pretty deep in thought," she said, drawing his attention back to her.

"Huh? Uh- yeah… I was thinking about... my dad," Syaoran said, setting his knife to the vegetable.

"Oh," Sakura smiled. "Was it a good thought?"

Syaoran returned her smile. "It was."

They were quiet for a moment. Well, he and Sakura were. Fai found some little thing to poke at Kurogane, prodding until his shouting echoed in the forest. Mokona did her best to aid Fai in the effort, of course. It was pretty funny a lot of the time, well once Syaoran had figured out that it was playful. At first he wasn't sure why Fai insisted on behaving the way he did with Kurogane. Once he'd figured it out, it was much more amusing.

"You don't really talk about yourself that much, Syaoran-kun," Sakura said after a moment.

"Eh?"

She smiled. "I don't really know anything about you from before this journey. So, it's nice to know you have a kind father."

Syaoran blinked. "Uh… h-how could you tell he was kind?"

"You smiled," she replied simply.

He felt himself blushing as he looked back to his work. "Yeah…"

If the world was the it should've been, Sakura wouldn't have even needed to ask him about his life before their journey; she already knew everything there was to know about him. She knew Fujitaka, she didn't need to guess if he was kind. She was supposed to already know.

Fai came over, touching his shoulder lightly. On his face was a kind smile. "Are you finished up then?"

"Yes, we can start on the carrots if you want?" Syaoran replied, but Fai shook his head.

"I think Sakura-chan and I can manage the rest, could you go get some more water from the stream? We'll purify it while we make dinner."

Syaoran stood up, grateful for the distraction Fai provided. "Sure, I'll go get it right away."

"Thanks!" Fai sang, handing him the container.

The day was warm even in the evening, but the shade of the trees provided some cool relief on his shoulders and arms. It was nice to walk around alone for a little bit. Of course he thoroughly enjoyed and cared for his companions, but there wasn't much time for any of them to have their own space to think.

Those thoughts he had were in the past for the most part. Specifically his father and that cold day in the rain.

Syaoran's feet were bare and soaked in the rain. He had no memory from before that day, the earliest memory he had was waking up at the side of the road, covered in bandages and all alone, the sky pouring down on him relentlessly. He'd made his way into the nearby town, half walking, half crawling for how many times he'd stumbled. Sometimes Syaoran wondered how he'd gotten there at the side of that road alone. Had he been abandoned? Did his birth parents leave him there, nameless and empty?

Tripping again, he stumbled into another puddle. Back the, he hadn't been used to the lack of perception his blind eye left him with. It had been hard to see, especially with the rain obstructing his vision in his left eye.

One of the worst things was that he was unable to understand the words of the people around him. A woman leaned down, asking him something in garbled language and a seemingly angry tone. When he hadn't responded, she left. For the most part, no one spoke to him, only looked on or deliberately away from him. Some looked at him sadly, others with their faces twisted and strange. Syaoran hadn't known what to think of their pity and disgust, he didn't even understand what it meant. Instead, he just curled in on himself against the side of a building, shivering against the cold rain, not knowing what to do next. He would've cried, had he known what that was. Instead, he sat blank faced, staring out at the people as they hurried past him.

Suddenly a heavy cloth was draped over him. Syaoran looked up in surprise at the man who was crouched down in front of him. This man's face seemed… warmer than the other faces he'd seen; his mouth turned up at the corners pleasantly. Syaoran resisted the urge to touch him, to see if his face was as warm as it seemed.

"You must be cold," the man's words had been incomprehensible to Syaoran at the time, but looking back, he heard them with the knowledge of what the sounds meant. "Let me take you somewhere dry. You'll be safe."

Looked up at the man, Syaoran didn't resist as he led the him out of the rain. The whole while, he hoped the man wouldn't leave him, fearing he would left alone to sit in the rain again.

A/N: Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I'll have the next chapter up next week! (more likely than not…) Reviews would be wonderful~